Which casserole to buy?

Many of you ask me every day, "Claudia, which casserole do you recommend?"

So I thought it would be a good idea to put up a post to clear up any doubts.

1. Introduction

The first thing is to understand why the greatest chefs use casseroles. They are not just simple kitchen utensils, they are THE kitchen utensils. A Le Creuset casserole is for life, and that is the brand's public commitment to its customers: "Lifetime guarantee". An object you can fill with memories and spread with experiences so that your children can repeat them and carry on the legacy.

2. Which shape, size, and height is best for me?

That is not the first question. The first question before buying a casserole is, what am I going to cook? Below I explain what types of recipes each one is best for.

Oval Cocotte – ideal for poultry, meat, and fish

Round Cocotte – stews with that “bubble, bubble” effect

Mini cocottes – ideal for a beautiful presentation, especially for desserts, but also for any kind of stew.

Doufeu Cocotte - su special design makes them suitable for preparing meat and those stews that require slow, long cooking. You can add ice on top of the lid so it keeps basting your dishes with steam. Incredible results.

Low Cocotte – ideal for cooking rice and casseroles.

3. Iron or ceramic? Le Creuset or Emily Henry? Battle of the titans

This is one of the questions that is hardest for me to answer because I am completely delighted with both brands, but in any case you need to know their differences in order to make a decision. Although honestly, I and many of you, I know, have cocottes, casseroles, or baking dishes from both brands and use whichever suits us best on each occasion. Maybe you have an Emily Henry oven dish and a Le Creuset cast-iron casserole for stews. Well, there are so many possibilities! Let's go on and then you can decide! ;)

Advantages of cast iron: thanks to its excellent heat retention and distribution, our recipes for the Le Creuset casserole will always turn out spectacular. That is why the vitrified cast iron Le Creuset casserole is the best-selling one. It also has the advantage of being suitable for all types of cooktops: gas, ceramic, induction, oven, or wood-fired.

Advantages of ceramic: Emile Henry cocottes and casseroles they are made of vitrified stoneware and are the alternative to the cast iron used in Le Creuset cocottes. They also have very similar properties. Some differences: they are lighter due to the material they are made from. Stoneware is also a great conductor of heat and, like iron, distributes heat fantastically across the entire surface. If any reader has one at home, they will be able to confirm what I'm saying - it's amazing!

The manufacturing process is very natural; their cocottes and casseroles are made from Burgundy clay fired at over 2000ºC, which is why they are so resistant to knocks and temperature changes. If you take good care of them, they will always look like new and they will give us excellent stews.

4: Advantage Emile Henry

In addition to being lightweight, here's another advantage of Emile Henry: unlike the iron ones, they can be put in the microwave to heat up our recipes. Also, ceramic does not get hot in the microwave, so the handles will never burn.

5: Le Creuset advantage

And to be fair, here's an advantage for Le Creuset: they can be used on induction cooktops and Emile Henry cannot. No need to panic! If you love your Emile Henry cookware and don't want to give up an induction cooktop, you can use the disc supplied by the manufacturer.

7. Does color matter?

No, although the volcanic-colored Le Creuset casserole is the best-selling one, it is not because of a cooking benefit but because it is a classic among classics. Julia Child herself used it, although she would have loved to have had the full range of colors that we have now. ;)

I hope you found this post useful, and don’t hesitate to ask me any other questions you may have!